Finca La Tierra is our own 10 hectare coffee farm in Cauca, Colombia. We bought a pretty worn down farm in early 2017 because it happened to be for sale, the location was good and the size not too over-whelming. And because we were and are really eager to learn about coffee farming for real. Johan has travelled the coffee world, walked more steps on coffee farms than most people, but this is something completely different, this is hard work and full commitment.
Our goal with Finca La Tierra is to learn everything about growing coffee and at the same time try to develop the farm´s quallity and sustainabililty. When we bought La Tierra there were many commercial hybrids growing here such as Supremo, Colombia & Castillo. We have since taken down many of these - they were old and susceptible to disease - and planted a greater variety of varieties such as Bourbon, Pink Bourbon, Tabi, Pacamara and not least several hectares of Geisha.
We have also planted shade trees to create a more even climate and less stress for the trees, introduced cow manure and other more natural ways of fertilizing. We have also created a variety garden where we have so far planted 15 different types of coffee varieties - to see what suits the climate and tastes best.
We own the farm together with Heber Sarria, a famous person for many coffee lovers. If he hadn't decided to move to Colombia permanent and take responsibility for the farm, it wouldn't be possible. Running a coffee farm is complicated, you have to be there, work on the farm, talk to the workers and inspire them. He now lives with his family at Finca La Tierra.
Ever since we bought the farm, we have worked hard to improve the quality of both the farm and the coffee it produces. It started with us building new drying beds so that we can control the drying process better. But the biggest investment has been buying machines that allow us to control our coffee all the way from picked bean to packing it in jute bags for export.
We have also started to work only with micro-lots; so now all of the coffee we produce on the farm is separated into smaller lots and processed separately. Most of these lots are either naturally dried or processed with differenent experimental techniques, especially anarobic fermentation.
